Sequel Bits: ‘Transformers 4’, ‘Expendables 3’, ‘Transporter 4-6’, ‘The Hobbit’, ‘Anchorman 2’, ‘Pacific Rim 2’
Guess who’s been hanging out in Middle-earth again! Also after the jump:
MoreTransporterpics are racing our way.Luc Besson’s EuropaCorp has teamed with China’s Fundamental Films to produce three more installments of the thriller series. Each will be budgeted at $30-$40 million, and at least one of the three will shoot in China.
Part 4 is currently in development though it seems to be in the early stages. There’s no word yet on whetherJason Stathamwill reprise the lead role, or who might helm the new pictures. [THR]
Once again,Sylvester Stalloneturned to Twitter to reveal the latest in casting forThe Expendables 3. Stallone let slip that he’s looking at some of the stars ofThe Raid, though it doesn’t sound like anything’s confirmed yet.
Scouting eastern Europe and Asia …we are going all out on this one … Could be a big surprise!!
— Sylvester Stallone (@TheSlyStallone)July 27, 2025
Thinking about Raiding, THE RAID….think about it…
We believe we can do better than the RAID, which was an excellent film… Raising the bar…
He also suggested that Steven Seagal could be on board for the next film.
Just talked to STEVEN S. in Moscow …Sounds great and says he wants to be in EX3, if the part fits….
— Sylvester Stallone (@TheSlyStallone)August 05, 2025
In addition, Stallone confirms thatWesley Snipes,Jackie Chan, andMickey Rourkeare good to go.Patrick Hughesis directing the new film, with production expected to get underway this fall. [@TheSlyStallone]
Peter Jacksonhas headed back to Middle-earth once again. The director recently reunited withIan McKellan(Gandalf) in New Zealand to do a few more reshoots forThe Hobbit: The Desolation of SmaugandThe Hobbit: There and Back Again, and while there snapped a photo to mark the occasion.
Part 2 of theHobbittrilogy opensDecember 13, 2013. Part 3 lands a year later onDecember 17, 2014. [Facebook]
IfGuillermo del Toro’sPacific Rimturns out to be as good as it looks, you’ll probably be glad to here the director has much more where that came from. “F***, yeah!” was del Toro’s response when Legendary CEOThomas Tullasked him if he could come up with a great idea for a sequel.
The filmmaker wouldn’t divulge many details, but he did reveal that the new film wouldn’t just pit giant creatures against each other again. Instead, he plans to dive deeper into the kaiju mythology.
“[With the old movies] it was Godzilla versus so-and-so, and that was all you needed to know,” he says. “It was like a wrestling match.” Instead, del Toro and co-writer Travis Beacham plan to delve deeper into the alien forces behind the kaiju (Japanese for “giant monsters”), who in the first film invade Earth from their so-called “antiverse” through a breach at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, only to be met by a last stand of human defenders (including Sons of Anarchy’s Charlie Hunnam). “They’re a race of blind consumers grabbing planets, consuming them, and moving to the next,” says del Toro. “The idea [with the sequel] is to explore a little bit of that. I won’t spoil it, but I don’t think we’ll repeat a single beat from the first movie.”
Read more atEW.com.Pacific Rimhits theatersJuly 12.
The following two items containspoilersforTransformers 4andAnchorman 2, respectively. Tread carefully, or just skip ahead to the comments.
Earlier today we learned some more details aboutTransformers 4’s new human leads. Now we also have some info about its new robot stars. (Spoilers start here.)
According to a source who spoke withJo Blo, the film will feature Dinobot characters including Grimlock; the Autobot Hound; a Samurai Decepticon that wants to be an Autobot; and Galvatron, a.k.a. Megatron reborn.
But perhaps the most intriguing new name is Lockdown.
One of the villains of the film will be a character named Lockdown, who has a ship full of decommissioned Transformers, including the dinobots, which are somehow brought back to life by a captured Optimus Prime. Prime is joined by returning autobot Bumblebee and at one point both characters (and potentially others) will “ride” the Dinobots into battle in Hong Kong (which fits well within the announcement that the film would film partially in China), with Prime on Grimlock and Bumblebee on a Pterandon, presumably Swoop.
Transformers 4opensJune 27, 2014. [Jo Blo]Anchorman: The Legend Continuesalready has a list of celebrity cameos about a mile long, but somehow they’ve found room to fit in a couple more. (Spoilers ahead if you would rather be surprised.)
The comedy sequel has been shooting in New York City as of late, and paparazzi photos reveal the presence of rappersDrakeandWestin costume and on set. For Drake, that means an Afro, a leather Members Only jacket, and acid washed jeans to go with the 1977 setting.Click hereto see photos. [Vulture]
